A driving apparatus for an electric power steering system (hereinafter EPS) is known in the art, according to which a steering operation of a vehicle driver is assisted by a driving force of an electric motor. Such a driving apparatus for the EPS is known in the art, according to which a mechanical unit (an electric motor) and an electrical unit (a control unit for controlling an operation of the electric motor) are integrally formed as one assembly unit.
According to a conventional driving apparatus, for example, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 2011-37324 (A), motor terminals electrically connected to windings of an electric motor (corresponding to motor-side terminals 74U to 74W in the above patent publication) and circuit-board terminals connected to a circuit board of the control unit (corresponding to insert conductive members 52 in the above patent publication) are connected to each other (as disclosed in paragraph [0034] and shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 thereof).
Generally, when either one of the motor unit and the control unit goes out of order, in view of reducing a repairing cost, it is desirable to disassemble the control unit from the motor unit and to replace one of them, whichever is out of order, with a new component (a new control unit or a new motor unit).
According to the driving apparatus of the above patent publication, in a case that the control unit is disassembled from and re-assembled to the motor unit, the motor terminals are disconnected from and then connected again to the circuit-board terminals. During such a disassembling or re-assembling process, the circuit board of the control unit is inevitably exposed to an outside of a housing for the control unit.
As a result, any extraneous material may enter into an inside of the control unit and may adhere to an electronic circuit formed on the circuit board. In addition, there is a fear that the electronic circuit may be damaged by a tool, by which the motor terminals are connected to or disconnected from the circuit-board terminals. Furthermore, there is a fear that the electronic circuit may be damaged, when static electricity flows to the electronic circuit from a hand of a repairing worker.